Review: SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike for PSP

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I’ve had about two weeks to play around with SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Tactical Strike, including some multi-player sessions with Sony’s QA Team last week. But I’ve been under embargo until right now. So, please read on to find out how one of Sony’s most storied franchises is changing things up.

In SOCOM ‘s first two appearances on the PSP, Sony tried to shrink a PS2 game into the PSP. And the results were pretty good. I loved being able to play one of the best shooters while on the go. Instead of that trigger-happy shooter that mixed elements of stealth and raw power, Tactical Strike is a thinking gamer’s action title.

As in previous SOCOM titles, you get fairly detailed briefings. At this point, instead of selecting just your weapons, you set up your whole squad.

Tactical Strike‘s main gameplay mechanic involves controlling four squad members and deploying them in third person view. You take time strategically placing your guys for ambushes, while countering possible ambushes by the bad guys. You move your men from area to area, getting cover behind walls and other barriers. You have a handful of commands to choose from, and once you order them to do something they will do a good job of following through.

The only part of the game where you actually control the action is in lobbing ‘nades. It’s not much more than looking at an arc and pressing the fire button. That dynamic feels kind of out of place, but I don’t think it’s distracting to the point of detracting from the game.

The action stacks up well against the other SOCOM titles. It’s not like you just order your men to fight and then you stop thinking, just watching the action. Rather, you’ll have to make decisions on the fly, sending your guys to attack and retreat, flank and cover, all in real time.

Tactical Strike has an even more realistic look than previous SOCOM titles. It’s not just that the game has an undeniable level of polish. The way squad members move together is very human-like, and it’s kind of hard to tell they are A.I. sometimes. They’re just plain smart about how they lay down cover fire and move around, given limited commands. When you issue squad commands, they are quickly, yet intelligently, carried out. If, for example, you send your squad a bit further than you should, and it happens to pass some enemy units, it will take evasive action.

This may not seem like a big deal, but I’ve played games before where your guys move like hapless ducks, taking gunfire without even trying to fight back. And then once they get to the place they were ordered, they’ll wait again to be told to fire back at the guys killing your men.

It’s a good thing, because enemy A.I. is smart, too. But it’s balanced. You won’t feel like the game is cheating against you. Still, your intelligence and your commands are being tested. It’s easy to see how quickly your squad is lit up when you don’t move them around with care. And most people would rather see their squad achieve a rapid victory rather than a long, drawn out firefight in which your squad loses.

It even sounds better, too. I’ve always been impressed with how SOCOM nails the little details. Radio chatter is possibly the best I’ve heard on the PSP yet. And the soundtrack makes you feel like you’re in an action movie.

Tactical Strike has a fairly long campaign considering its on a handheld, and the Instant Action feature adds even more single-player gameplay. After playing only the single-player campaign, I walked away thinking that the game was pretty solid, but it didn’t stand out as great.

Luckily, as I mentioned earlier, I got a chance to get in some multi-player action with Sony’s QA team and some other reviewers. And it is in multi-player where I was able to really understood the charm of this title.

My first match was an utter disaster, and I just pretty much let my guys get bum-rushed. It’s because I tried to play it like a regular action title. But after that 10-minute trouncing, I decided to move my guys much more deliberately and carefully in order to defend a key area. Once one area was clear, I moved on to the next. And that’s pretty much the point: strategy.

The title does not support a ton of players in one game (2v2), and so you wouldn’t expect much lag. Luckily, that expectation is met. The game was smooth at every point during my gaming session.

Both the single- and multi-player aspects of Tactical Strike fall just short of perfect. The single-player experience is deep, and yet compared to the multi-player experience it can’t stand up. The act of setting traps and beating up on a computer is just not as satisfying as competing against other human beings. I’d suggest getting your fill of the campaign, because once you’ve played a multi-player match, it’s tougher to go back. Multi-player, meanwhile, feels a little hollow itself, just based on how few people are in a match at a time. Four players control 16 squad members total, and although you can certainly issue individual orders to each of those guys, you’re still basically facing just two enemies.

All told, action gamers will find an awful lot of gaming here, especially if you follow my advice and get your single-player gaming out of the way before playing the multi-player. It’s a different take on a strong series, and I think SOCOM fans will be satisfied. If you’re looking for something more like the old SOCOM PSP games, then I’d recommend looking at Syphon Filter: Logan’s Shadow (see our review).